Dar has been odd for a week or more----------I'm not 'worried' about this, but it's kinda cute and quirky.

Several times this week I'll him barking at something---the bark that usually means he's 'upset/concerned---(like the time he saw a snake in the grass)....

The first time he was standing by the studio door, barking like crazy at what I thought was a shirt hanging on the line. But as I investigated with him, I realized he was barking at my little Art Bag sitting on the back step. _About the size of a half of loaf of bread___

He just barked and zipped around it-------(it never sits there, so it was out of place for hm). when I went over and picked it up, cooing to him..""It's okay, Dar, It's just the bag-looky Dar, it's just the bag"""he decided to whip up a fit of zoomies, all around the yard.!!!!!1 When he'd zip by the art bag (with me holding it), he'd jump, skid and bark, running away again!!

He's done it twice more in the last couple of days. Gerry's bike was sitting outside the picket fence----I liked to NEVER GET him calmed down on that one---even putting him in the house didn't keep him barking at the door. I went out and brought the bike on the front porch, and after he reluctantly smelled the tire a few times, ((realizing it wasn't some kind of animal or alien), he was okay.

Same thing this morning, with a Foot Locker Bag, full of stuff. Our house can be cluttery at times, so it's not like I"m some kind of neat-freak, and any change in the environment upsets him.

It's some kind of phase, LOL LOL...

Anyone else's dogs get all whacked out over 'new' stuff, or stuff not in it's original place???

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are Anger and Courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”----Augustine

All kinds of inanimate objects freak him out......He DOES seem to 'stay' close by the object, and once I go to it, make those reassuring, cooing 'it's okay sweetie' words-----pick it up, etc...he WILL get close enough to smell it--------And with the little bag of art supplies, opened him mouth like he was gonna carry it off to play with.

I'll just keep an eye on it.....wacky pooch!!

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are Anger and Courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”----Augustine

Agatha had a few days when she was about 9-10 months old where the little plastic dog below had her in fits.Growling, alarm barking, creeping, zoomies, the whole 9 yards, it was bizarre to say the least. She spotted it sitting on an end table (where it had been for weeks) as she walked past and just lost it. After about 3 days of idiocy (and, admittedly, me teasing a little bit because it was so funny, she would NOT let the evil dog-thing get ANYWHERE near her), she chilled out and completely ignored it, and we haven't had an incident like it since.

If I were in your place, I would not reassure him. He could take it as encouragement for this type of behavior. If I were in your place, I'd be apt to ignore these little outbursts; if anything, I'd quietly take him to the object(not forcefully) and reward him for investigating on his own.

between the issues with the Head Halter collar and this thread I'd have to agree with Tina and wonder if this is some kind of fear phase

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

Score went through many fear periods...up until at least 18 months old... weird things would set him off..."OH I'M TERRIFIED of that woman's bracelet!"

He was a fairly, cool, calm and collected pup though...and once past all that shit, he evened back out.

I click/treat for nose touches for the "scary" object. Score is scared of baby gates...one fell on him as a young pup...so he's very cautious around them now. We worked on nose touches until he wasn't jumping out of his skin terrified!

"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw

Malli wrote:If I were in your place, I would not reassure him. He could take it as encouragement for this type of behavior. If I were in your place, I'd be apt to ignore these little outbursts; if anything, I'd quietly take him to the object(not forcefully) and reward him for investigating on his own.

between the issues with the Head Halter collar and this thread I'd have to agree with Tina and wonder if this is some kind of fear phase

I agree... most dogs don't look at "reassurance" the way people would.

Sepp has a thing about plastic bags right now, doesn't like when I point the remote at the TV, and also barks at my cigarrettes when I light one.

I usually ignore him unless he has a fit in the yard about a bag blowing down the street... then I just call him in the house.

TheRedQueen wrote:I click/treat for nose touches for the "scary" object. Score is scared of baby gates...one fell on him as a young pup...so he's very cautious around them now. We worked on nose touches until he wasn't jumping out of his skin terrified!

Doing that w/Faust and shoes/boots... I have also placed treats in, and around, the "scary" objects and he's way too intrigued and greedy to ignore those for long.

Sepp HATES the TV in the bedroom. I turned it on for the first time tonight, and he has been pacing back and forth between here and the living room for the past few hours. This is accompanied by lots of huffing and puffing, growling, and the occasional bark/howl. No idea what the problem might be...

When any of my guys are getting wigged out by silly stuff I generally poo-poo them with something like, "Oh don't be silly....it's fine!" Then I do the 'zombie walk' which always gets them silly and doing the zoomies.

~Jeanine

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

I tend to walk over WITH Oscar, to whatever the issue is, I'll often say something like "what? OK, lets go see it." and then "see, its nothing" And I find if you really mean it, your tone of voice reflects that...

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

Malli wrote:I tend to walk over WITH Oscar, to whatever the issue is, I'll often say something like "what? OK, lets go see it." and then "see, its nothing" And I find if you really mean it, your tone of voice reflects that...

Well, that's what I do too!!

I think I MY reassuring, gentle tone is much more of one of ''amused-get-over-here-look-at-this-it's-only-a-sack-you-silly-dog".

I pick up Or touch whatever the offending CULPRIT is, and say 'DAR LOOK. It's a LEAF, DAR. A LEAF.

my tone is one of joviality, reassurance, and What the Hell, Dog---It's-gonna-be-okay! If he continues with the jump/bark/scooch away, I just sit down with (or by) the offender and wait him out.His curiosity gets the best of him.

I KNOW dogs are not kids. But this works with kiddos, and it was my first instinct with Dar too.when he DOES come over to the item, I pet him on the head, while quipping:: See! It's only a macaroni!and that's the end of it. I move on. If he still seems a little skittish, I pretty much ignore him and let him work it out.I'm not sure this is TRUE fear of this stuff, but rather excited wariness.... It's much more 'alert-alert-alert'!!!! I_don't-know-what-the-hell-this-is, and I'm-not-gettin-close.

haha..

Thanks guys................your comments/insights are always so helpful, and always welcome!!!

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are Anger and Courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”----Augustine

ArtGypsy wrote:I'm not sure this is TRUE fear of this stuff, but rather excited wariness.... It's much more 'alert-alert-alert'!!!! I_don't-know-what-the-hell-this-is, and I'm-not-gettin-close.

IMO this is still fear. Like others have said, this may not "truly" be Dar but he could be going through a fear stage. I, personally, would just ignore Dar when he is like this, but if what you are doing seems to be working for y'all then go ahead with that.

I'm sure you're probably just kidding but I wanted to point out that even if this behavior was a common pit bull problem you should never use it being a "breed problem" as an excuse. At the end of the day, he's still a canine. That's like one might say "Oh he's a Schnauzer, Schnauzer's scream." Yeah, a lot of them may vocalize, but that doesn't make it okay.

I would also like to add I think from reading the other post about the GL fear that it really kind of sounds like your dog is having some trouble with confidence. I think you should be taking this opportunity to either retrain the reaction [clicker training is amazing] and also start introducing him to all sorts of weird things. Like going into places like Home Depot/Lowe's with potentially scary things inside, maybe going to friend's houses and purposefully making a pile of stuff that might startle him.

It's kind of like in horses, I want my horse to stop and look at something before freaking out and taking off. When there's something that scares her, I make her touch or sniff the thing, sometimes walk on the thing [if it's a scary blue tarp!] once she's over it and the thing isn't scary, we move on. By teaching her that she needs to basically stop and think about things before tweaking out she has built her confidence so she doesn't just freak out and runaway, unless the situation calls for it of course :p especially if there's a plastic bag involved, then all bets are off.